Sometimes not accepting reality is a good way to go about things. BUT…I don’t want to be too cryptic here. But reality is a dichotomy. Facing reality makes things a lot easier. In AA they call it “Living life on life’s terms”. But yes it is very hard to face reality sometimes. But you can go online and look up people who have done great things in life. People who have had great sucess and are at the top of their field. And rich. And if you read their stories you will find that MANY people were told they would never amount to anything. That they should just give up.And people told them they were crazy for not giving up when all the odds were against them. But the people persevered despite great hardship and against all obstacles and became successful. Because they didn’t listen to anybody and followed their own heart and mind. That’s why I like reading biography’s an autobiography’s. People like Oprah.She is an extreme example but it’s inspiring.Oprah was born in the deep south. Her family was poor and Oprah got sexually abused as a child.She got raped by a family member. Being black today is not the obstacle it was when she was a child. But a poor, abused , black women is one of the richest women in the world. An extreme example but look at the incredible odds she faced and she persevered. You can find MANY,MANY, other success stories of famous(and not so famous) people who came from nothing but succeeded.The classic example is two brothers who own a bike shop. Maybe not dirt poor but not rich.How many people thought the ages said that man will NEVER fly? But the Wright brothers were stubborn and didn’t care what people thought. Many people must have thought that they lost their minds. But you know the ending to the story!!! LOTS of inventors were told that what they were attempting was impossible. But they didn’t give up even when EVERYBODY was telling them there was no way it would work. Look at some American presidents. Andrew Jackson: A backwoodsman Indian fighter. Jimmy Carter : a peanut farmer. Ronald Reagan an B-movie actor. Of course Obama: a community organizer with (I believe) just two terms as a senator. Now the most powerful man on earth. Roosevelt; crippled and confined for the most part to a wheelchair. Our ONLY three-term president. These are all extreme examples. But there are examples on our level too. You don’t always hear of sucess stories on this site, but every now and then, a certain post will bring the successful people out of the woodwork. Schizophrenics who are married, raised kids, went to school, worked, etc. look at Shaka and what she’s accomplished.She had a horrible time with schizophrenia but she’s made something of he self. I’ve worked, albeit part-time,since I was 17. I got diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when I was 19. Didn’t work again until I was 22. But I always simply figured that if I was HEALTHY and ABLE TO LEARN that I could work. Healthy and teachable.Never mind that I don’t always talk at work with my co-workers. I get by. I need five more classes for my AA degree. I live by myself and a own a car. I had a bad drug addiction for three years. I got clean in 1990. As my dad said, I lived life in the fast lane. I’m NOT encouraging anybody to do drugs.I would NEVER do that. But in my addiction I hung out on Stanford University campus. I went to their parties, I hung out at their mall, and saw movies at their private movie theater. When I wasn’t rubbing elbows with these young rich kids I was hanging out at night with strangers smoking crack in the city with the highest murder rate in California. Enough of those stories. I shouldn’t have done drugs in the first place. Jayster kind of freaked me out when he commented that I was blissfully unaware of what was realy happening. True. I work on an army base with huge, young (and old) soldiers. There job description is:“learn how to kill”. I’ve been there three years. I don’t know what those people think of me. If I did I would probably quit. I’m not always aware when I’m in danger or if someone is threatening me or when they are serious and when they are joking… But if I faced reality I would probably stay home.
NIck, I think you are a success and I am always grateful for your knowledge and input. You’ve lived a lot, done a lot, seen, been, and survived. I really hope that I can stay stable, teachable and sober for as long as you have managed.
Thank you for your input and posting.
Thanks, I appreciate it. Good luck.
I agree with J. I think you are a success story. Being a success doesn’t mean that you don’t have bad times. We all do. But you get through them and continue to be a source of inspiration to others.
You are right about perseverance and yes a little luck. I have told my son a couple of times that I see no reason why he can’t one day be one of the famous ones like Einstein etc. However I think you guys are already heroes in my book.
I have always admired your inner strength. You went through some really hard times, but have kept such a positive outlook on things. There are people like you, but in my honest opinion not enough people such as yourself.